Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Timeless Tea Party

Childhood
A curious mixture of memories, fantasy and imagination.
A time of play, adventure, and make believe.
Books and stories regularly provided inspiration for my childhood games.
Enid Blyton, Lewis Carol, the Brothers Grimm.
Well loved and well read, often many times over.

Organising tea parties with playmates are some of my fondest childhood memories. In the confines of the cubbyhouse with wonky second-hand furniture, various mismatched cups and saucers, and cupcakes usually made from play-doh, but sometimes real. And of course the teapot, full of some weird concoction, never tea!

Now lets pick up the tea party where we left off and come and join the 'The Timeless Tea Party'. An installation of tea party inspired time pieces and jewellery.

Take a pinch of Alice in Wonderland, a dash of The Magic Faraway Tree and mix it up with some Mary Poppins and you have “The Timeless Tea Party”

Like the nonsensical tea party from Alice in Wonderland which will always be timeless literally and figuratively, this tea party will be based around time.
Oversized tea cups will be functional clocks.
Plates of linoleum cupcakes will tempt you.
The Teapot will tell the time, as will the lamp and the phone………

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Buying gifts for family and friends at the Curious Oyster Shoppe means you are not only supporting my own '1 (wo)man band' small business, but you are also supporting the individual artisans who create all the products in my shoppe!

All the products are either or all, handmade, locally, socially responsibly, ecologically and/or sustainably produced... Phew! What a mouthful!

We are all part of 1 planet... So in addition, I am donating to our friends - our neighbours, who do not have the same opportunities we have. MicroLoan provides loans to women in sub - Saharan Africa to start their own independent small businesses!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Anyway... long time, no write. Some exciting news for my Nilla Nilla label is that there was a little Pout Balm feature in this months Peppermint Mag!

I thought this called for a wee Nilla Nilla Summer Pout Balm giveaway, to celebrate and maybe shine a little light on your day!

Every Friday, starting from tomorrow (9th of April), until the till end of April (Friday the 30th), I will announce 3 Winners who will each be sent out 1 Nilla Nilla Pout Balm from our Summer Range!

So how do you get your lips some organic summer loving? Be a member of my Curious Oyster Shoppe Facebook page, that's how! If you're not already a member, join here and you will also go into the draw to win!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

I love living in Thornbury... The people are friendly and it is one of the few true communities I have come to know in Melbourne.

But in the country, well every town is a tight knit bunch. Every customer in the one or two shops that the town might be blessed with, is greeted by name and and a friendly smile...

Last week my nerves were frayed and apparently I was "difficult"... Well I didn't know what in the world EVERYONE was talking about, but when I was offered my first holiday in over 24 months, well I jumped at the offer!

So we headed off to a place called Wombat Valley Cottages... I didn't read the website and had absolutely no idea of what to expect when I arrive. It was a slightly arduous journey for my wee lilAlfa, up unkept gravel roads... Especially for the fact that we pulled in to the property past 10 in the evening. The owner drove us to the actual cabin, where I was taken aback by the fact that there was no electricity. Instead everything was gas, including the fridge!

I kindly requested lots of matches and for the owners torch!

Now please don't get me wrong... I'm not a princess! I have stayed in festy hovels from Canada to China to Eastern Europe. And I can appreciate camping including the "digging a hole" style... It's more that in my head I conjured up images of complete luxury and being pampered head to toe (I did say I didn't read up the place AT ALL!)

Anyway...I couldn't hear a single thing except the light murmur of a well populated bushland... We were quite high up in fact and had no idea where the next human might be... but I decided to suck it up an go with the flow...

It was actually a really lovely weekend away and we were blessed with largest downpour the little town of Briagalong had seen in a very very long time. This meant that almost my entire weekend away was spent sitting by a castle sized fireplace, piecing a 700 piece puzzle together and eating food lovingly cooked by my lovely partner. I didn't move a muscle... which could explain the extra kilo I gained!

My favourite meal is Spaghetti Bolognese... I possess very mature and complex taste buds. So over my entrée of Buffalo mozzarella, olio and avocado, I casually requested he open the bottle of wine he brought along. I didn't realise it was the $500 Penfolds he won at Christmas. So after a fit, I decided that the only thing left to do was to sit back, relax and down this sublime liquid beauty!

Savouring my last sip of Penfolds... Pretty sure that will be my last of that calibre :(

Needless to say I have returned back to my shoppe refreshed, revived and energised! I have caught myself more than many times, smiling at the sun and passers by, humming happy tunes...

Super relaxed and getting ready to face the real world again...

Did I mention this place is dog friendly? My girl is curled up under a jumper after she got in the fight with a pair of scissors... Poor thing

So my advice to anyone feeling stressed out and needing a very cheap, short break, is to go somewhere completely isolated, with only the necessary mod cons... for me this includes full kitchen utilities and a hot shower! and just unplug from life... even if just for a moment.

Our "TV"... Pity it didn't change channels...

The cottages though simple, are super cute and the next living human turned out to be only 10meters away in the next cabin!